Examination of contemporaneous chatter on Libyan websites and social media shows that locals really were in an uproar about the famous “anti-Islam video” in both the run-up to and immediate aftermath of the Benghazi attack. This finding is all the more significant inasmuch as the chatter in question comes from precisely the same extremist milieu as the presumed assailants. In the hours immediately preceding the attack, local Islamists were calling on their brethren to “do something” in response to the video. From both the source and tenor of these appeals, it is clear that they meant something more emphatic than just a peaceful demonstration…

For the evidence, including numerous photos and screen caps, see my new article on Al-Monitor here.